'U' prof involved in Vent-s-boud i -mima space probe By MICHAEL ARKUSH A University professor who heads the science steering committee for a spacecraft bound for Venus yesterday said that although he doesn't believe life exists on that planet, he still con- tends the mission, launched Saturday, will produce significant facts about the Earth. Professor Thomas Donahue, chair- man of the University's Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department, said the mission should explain to scientists why the carbon dioxide in Venus' at- mosphere remains in the air and prevents the existence of any form of life. The spacecraft will be the first U.S. vehicle to orbit Venus and should reach., the planet on Dec. 4. DONAHUE CLAIMS Venus and Ear- th have the same mass and are the same distance from the sun but have Diy Photo by PETER SER__ different atmospheres. "The Daily Photo by PETER SERLi UNIVERSITY LABORATORY director George Carignan works on a mass spectrometer similar to the one on Pioneer Venus. See PROF, Page o Judge to hear 'black slang' case By DAN OBERDORFER The Ann Arbor school system may be forced to provide black students with a revised curriculum designed to lift their command of the English language to an acceptable level. In an order issued last Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Joiner agreed to hear a case brought on behalf of 15 Ann Arbor elementary school children who speak "black slang." Joiner will hear arguments when his schedule permits, perhaps before classes begin in the fall, according to lawyers for the schoolchildren. THE CASE IS expected to set a national precedent on the question of whether students who speak "black English" face language barriers similar to those ex- perienced by foreign students. If so, federal law com- mands that the problems be addressed by the schools. Ordinarily, the issue of language barriers is restricted ~today- Happenings.. . get off to a roaring start at 9 ith a car basics workshop sponsored by the Washtenaw County Coonerative Extension Service Reservations must to students who grow up speaking a language other than English. . The language barrier claim was one of five charges filed last August accusing the city school system of ignoring the special needs of low-income students. Joiner dismissed the four other claims, but said the Equal Education Opportunities Act applies to "language barriers. . . encountered by students who speak 'black English,' as well as to language barriers encountered by students who speak German." LAWYERS FOR THE 15 schoolchildren-all of whom go to Martin Luther King Elementary school on Ann Arbor's northeast side-claim the school is not providing them with the tools necessary for adequately continuing their education. "These kids are functionally illiterate due in a large part to social and economic differences between them and their white counterparts," said attorney Kenneth Lewis of Michigan Legal Services. "These kids will never learn to read. You can almost say when they graduate from elementary school they are headed for Jackson State (prison) if they don't have the tools to function in this society." Lewis said the children are asking Ann Arbor to in- stitute a new instruction program which "would legitimize black culture." The program would involve student, parent, and teacher workshops, special training sessions for teachers, and the use of new primers which help bridge the gap between black slang and standard English. OFFICIALS FROM the city school system, however, feel they are now providing an adequate education for the school system's 15 percent black population. "What we're doing may not be perfect, but it is not less than what they (the black want," said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Robert Mosely. "We don't deny that society in general discriminates against the poor and blacks, but we are doing what we can." See JUDGE, Page 14 be made in advance by calling 973-9510 ... take a deep breath and head over to the informational meeting for a spring smoking withdrawl clinic co- sponsored by the University Health Service and the Ann Arbor Y. The meeting will be from 7-7:30 at the Y, 530 S. Fifth.., the city Planning Commission holds a regular session at 7:30 in the City Council chambers, second floor of City Hall ... or hear Sam Lewis, editor of Young Spartacus, speak on "Cuba and Africa" in the Kuenzel Room of the Union at 7:30 ... the Young People's Theater will hold its an- nual membership meeting at 7:30 in the Washtenew County Service Center Recreation Building on Washtenaw and Hogback Rd.... the League of Women Voters and the Ann Arbor PTO Council. present a candidate's night at the Public Library at 7:30, featuring contenders in the June 12 school board election . . the nuclear power protest at Rocky Flats, Colo. and the movement toward disarmament will be the subject of a talk by Cliff Kuschler and Lynee Wright at 7:30 in the UGLI Multipurpose Room ... the Independent Cinema Video series offers a film screening featuring the works of Allen Rose at 8:30 at Canterbury House. Ups and downs of college life - A group of Yale grads had a ball at their com- mencement exercises. Well, actually several balls, and some tins and some bagels, too. The 40 seniors marched to the strains of "Pomp and Circumstan- ce" clad in black caps and gowns, but the diplomas they received were a bit unusual. They were given "Bachelor of Arts and Leisure" degrees for lear- ning what organizer Wilder Knight called a "prac- tical skill"-juggling. The "commencement," coming a day before the university awarded its of- ficial degrees to 1,050 Yale seniors, was planned by Knight, a professional juggler. "After four years and $28,900 you may ask what your kids have lear- ned," he told parents who gathered for the ceremony. "We really have no practical skills," he said, "except we can juggle." Whereupon, five at once, Kinight's proteges tossed balls, tins and even bagels into the air. Ah, the value of a college education. Where's the rub? Some of the gentlemen callers directed by a massage parlor advertisement to a Littleton, Colo. address have gotten rubbed the wrong way when they've found themsevles in a newspaper office in- stead. The Littleton Sentinel and the Arapahoe Sun Sentinel moved into their new quarters last week. A woman employed by the massage parlor, which moved to a new location up the street, recently told a Sentinel reporter: "I hope you make as much money out of that joint as I did." Take it from people who know the newspaper business: none of that hanky-panky goes on in the city room. Honestly. On the outside... Looks like more of that on again-off again weather, but unfortunately, it's going to be off again today. We'll have partly cloudy skies with scattered after- noon thundershowers. The high should be in the mid 70s. More clouds tomorrow with morning showers and a high of 75 expected. ..